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    18 views20 pages

    Underground Mining Method

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    Bee Psh

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Chapter s- Mineral Resource Extraction Fig. 557 surface rock support. The present tendency is to utilize fiber-reinforced shotcrete or Fibercrete. It forms actually a very versatile support technique with the addition of microsilica to the mortar mix. The mixture coats 50-100 mm thick layers on the roof and walls anticipating smaller frag ‘ments from falling (Haldar 2013). Regarding the ancient methods of support, steel set has commonly substituted timber as the traditional passive support technique in under- ‘ground mining. In general, steel or timber sets only generate support instead of reinforcement, In hard-rock mining, steel sets have restricted ut lization because most support duties can be car- ried out more efficiently using rockbols, shotcrete, or combination of these systems. The main excep: tion isin extremely broken ground related to the presence of faults of shear zones, In such cases, it can be unable to anchor the rockbolts in the rock mass, being thus steel sets needed in order to instalation of canopy jack tTumele Mine (South Africa image courtesy of Anglo American ple carry the dead weight of the failed material sur- rounding the opening. Thus, the subsidence of the roof can be supported by steel sets. A wide range of rolled steel sections are available in the market. 1G Figure 5.57 shows the installation and inspec- tion of canopy jacks to secure a brow at Tumela PGM Mine (South Africa). The image also dis- plays timber passive support, 55.5 Underground Methods ‘There are many different underground methods that have been developed to respond the needs of differing geometry and the geotechnical features of the host and surrounding rock. These under- ground mining methods, called stoping by the American miners, are difficult to classify ratio- nally since each method depends not only on ore body geometry but also includes other consider- ferground Mining a3 1 Fig.5.58_ Underground mining using unsupported method (Spain (Image courtesy oflberpotash) ations such as ground conditions, hydrology, grade distribution, the presence of structures (eg, faults or dykes), scale of operations, economic fc tor, availabilty of labors, and matrils/equip ‘ments as well as environmental considerations. ‘The reason why the choice of a method is cru- cialis that it largely governs the type and placement of the primary development openings. If distar- bance ofthe surface due to subsidence, inevitable with caving methods and possible with other meth- ods, is anticipated, then all the access openings must be located outside the zone of facture ‘bounded by the angle of draw The angle of drawis the angle between a vertical line drawn upward to the surface from the edge ofthe underground open- ing and lin drawn from the edge ofthe opening to the point of zero surface subsidence. The larger the angle of draw the wider willbe the area on the surface in which subsidence should be present To show the significance of ground support, underground mining methods can be casified in three main types based on the extent of support required: (a) methods generating openings that are naturally supported or requiring minimum artifical suppor, (b) methods requiring substantial artifical suppor, and (c) caving methods in which lure of the back roof is inherent to the extraction process. ‘Underground mining method can also be separated in selective and bulk methods. The former are uti- lized to recover ore without dilution, whereas the Inter are used to extract large tonnages of ore with low cost. Evidently, selective methods are more expensive per ton of rock extracted than bulk meth- ods, but the revenue per ton of ore is greater. Selective methods typically apply to narrow pre- cious metal vein deposits and high-grade base metal veins such as those hosting ead and zine, whereas bulk methods are used for mining low-grade large ore bodies which cannot be extracted profitahly using selective mining methods. In this section, the goalisto summarize briefly the main characteristics ofthe major underground mining methods accord- ing to the frst casifcation (ground support The unsupported methods (@ Fig, 5.58) of min- ing are generally utilized to mine mineral deposits that are roughly tabula, plus flat or steeply dipping, and are commonly related to high competent ore and waste rock. They are termed with this name am Chapter s- Mineral Resource Extraction 1 Fig.5:59. Two.oomsand one pilarin room and-pilr underground sytem (Spain) (image courtesy of Pedro Rodriguez) since they do not utlize any type of artifical ele ment to help in the support of the openings. However, a great number of roof bolting and local: ined support measures ate commonly needed. In room-and_pillar method, a classical unsupported method, the support of the roof is generated by natural pillar of the mineral that aze left standing in a systematic configuration (G Fig. 559). Supported mining methods need important amount of artifical support to keep stability in ‘openings as well as systematic ground conteol UUroughout the mine. They are utlized in mines With ground conditions ranging in competency from moderate to incompetent. In fact, the sup. ported method is basically used where the other two types of methods, unsupported and caving, aze not appropriate, Cut-and-fll stoping is the ‘most typical of these methods and is utilized in steeply dipping metal deposits ‘The third group, caving methods, ie varied and involves induced, controlled, or massive caving of the ore body and/or the overlying rock. The min ing workings are defined to collapse with inten tional caving of the ore andlor host rock. Subsidence of the surface normally occurs after ward. Two methods of this group widely applied due to their high productivity are longwall min ing and block caving. Unsupported Methods Room and Pillar Room and pillars the most classical unsupported method (@ Figs. 5.59 and 5.60). It is planned for ining of flat, bedded deposits of limited thick- ness, normally showing an inclination that does not exceed 30°, Examples are sedimentary depos its such as limestone or sandstone containing lead, salt layers, phosphate, some base metal deposits (@ Box 5.8: Rudna Copper Mine), lime- stone, magnesite, and dolomite. This method recovers the mineralization as completely as pos sible in open stopes, called rooms, leaving pillars of ore to support the hanging wall (hence the name room and pillar) but without jeopardizing working conditions and personal safety. The dimensions of rooms and pillars depend upon factors such as the stability of the hanging wall and the ore, the thickness of the deposit, and the rock pressure. In this respect, the stability of the fore and the hanging wall is a flexible concept Increasing the number of pillars and reducing the room width can compensate for poor ground conditions, but ore recovery is sacrificed since a larger portion of the ore body is left to support the back. Although it is not common, sometimes areas of waste can be utilized as pillars 5.5- Underground Mining 10 Fig.5.60 Roomand: pila metho illustration courtesy of Atlas Copco) 1 Boling and cablebolting _2-Verticl benching Rudna Copper Mine (Polkowice, Poland): Courtesy of KGHM ‘The Rudna mines the agest copper ore mine in Europe and ‘one ofthe largest deep copper ore ‘mines inthe wore. Runa mine ie located in Lower isla, north of Polkowice city. industil resources ‘of Runa mine (3.122015) n four ‘operated deposits are 432 milion ML of copper ere with an average ‘grade of copper of 1.88%, Aver age thicknes of Rudra deposit Is over mnowadays, and over 70% of resources aver 3m thick ‘Te deposi seriesincludes three Uithologieal inks: Upper Peemian carbonate rock, lay-dolomte Shae, and white sandstones of White Footwal Sandstone, The share of individual ithological types ofthe oein the balance oe esoures i fllows carbonate ‘ore, 1134 of ore resources shale ‘ore (Kuperschefen, 6% of ore resources and sandstone or, 83% ‘of ore esources.Copperbearing Shale (Kupferschifer) contains the highest grade of copper (63 The depth of copper ore body ranges {rom 844 m up to 1250 min depth “The Runa depost csplays varying and diferentiated minerat ‘anton. The main ore minerals re chalcocte digenite bor, chal copyrite,covlit, and tennant ‘Te carbonate-shale ore contains both the distributes forms inthe 35 2-Pilar 4-Flat benching {orm of grains and aggregatesas wal as ore pockets and veins. The ‘ore mineral are usually dispersed inthe sandstone oe and ae pres ‘ent in ther binder or re laminate form. The highest concentration ‘ofthe ore minerals is observed in the shale ore The accompanying ‘elements include mainly ser, lead, cobalt nickel, vanadium and molybdenum. Fuca depesitis mined using roonand-pillor underground mi ing method, Primary access to pro ‘duction areas is provided by main

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